(Bloomberg) — Financial regulators in Beijing issued a broad set of instructions to China Evergrande Group, telling the embattled developer to focus on completing unfinished properties and repaying individual investors while avoiding a near-term default on dollar bonds.

In a recent meeting with Evergrande representatives, regulators said the company should communicate proactively with bondholders to avoid a default but didn’t give more specific guidance, a person familiar with the matter said. A coupon for $83.5 million is due to the developer on Thursday. There’s a 30 day grace period before payment.

There’s no indication that regulators offered financial support to Evergrande for the bond payment, and it’s unclear whether officials believe the company should eventually impose losses on offshore creditors. Policy makers are trying to learn more about who holds Evergrande’s bonds, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive information.

While the regulatory guidance offers few clues about what an Evergrande endgame might look like, it does suggest China’s government wants to avoid an imminent collapse of the developer that might roil financial markets and drag down economic growth. Investors around the globe could be calmed by any sign Beijing is giving Evergrande extra time to address its debt issues. 

Evergrande fears caused an increase in borrowing costs by other Chinese developers with junk ratings and cast doubts on the viability of small Chinese banks. Individual investors, homebuyers and suppliers have staged protests at Evergrande offices across the country, while markets from Hong Kong to New York have convulsed this week as traders weighed the prospect of financial contagion from the world’s most indebted developer.

Even though Evergrande’s crisis can be traced in part to President Xi Jinping’s campaign to rein in over-leveraged property companies and discourage moral hazard, his government is unlikely to welcome a messy default that could threaten economic and social stability. Large cash injections into the financial system by the People’s Bank of China in recent days suggest policy makers are already focused on shoring up sentiment.

Evergrande, the PBOC and the nation’s financial and housing regulators didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The stock and bonds of Evergrande were lifted on Thursday by speculation that Evergrande might avoid the worst case scenario. The company’s 8.25% dollar note due 2022 climbed 4.8 cents on the dollar to 30 cents as of 5:39 p.m. local time, hitting session highs after Bloomberg reported regulators’ instructions to Evergrande. While the bonds still price in expectation of a severe haircut, they are not as extreme as this week. Shares jumped 18% in Hong Kong before the Bloomberg report, paring this year’s loss to 82%.

The rally was fueled in part by a vaguely worded statement from Evergrande on Wednesday, in which the company said an interest payment on one of its yuan-denominated bonds had been “resolved via negotiations off the clearing house.” The developer likely struck a deal with local bondholders to postpone the payment without having to label the move a default, analysts said.

It’s unclear whether Evergrande would be able to pull off something similar for its dollar bonds. The notes may be held by Hui Ka Yan (the billionaire founder) and associates. However, the holders could also include international investment firms who might not want to agree with opaque payment arrangements.

Investors see a restructuring as inevitable because of the deeply discounted Evergrande dollars bonds’ prices. Offshore bondholders are widely seen as near the bottom of Beijing’s priority list of Evergrande creditors, though that assessment may depend in part on how worried authorities become about Chinese companies’ access to dollar funding. The turmoil at Evergrande, Asia’s biggest issuer of junk bonds, has sent yields on an index of junk-grade Chinese dollar bonds to a decade high.

Hui stressed the need to resume construction of unfinished properties during a Wednesday meeting with Evergrande employees, Jiemian reports. Evergrande will also ensure that investment products are repaid.

Evergrande’s property sales have been a major source of cash, but the company is struggling to find buyers due to waning trust in its ability deliver projects. China is a country where homebuyers are required to put down large amounts on homes that can take several years to build. Evergrande has about 1.5 million potential buyers who are waiting to be delivered homes unfinished.

It is trying to sell assets in order to raise funds, but with mixed results. It said earlier this month it hadn’t made material progress on plans to sell stakes in its electric-car and property services units. Evergrande has hired Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:) and Admiralty Harbour Capital to “explore all feasible solutions” to ease its liquidity problems.

While the developer doesn’t have any bonds maturing until 2022, it faces about $669 million in coupon payments this year. Most of the $300 billion in debts to local banks, financial institutions, and homebuyers is owed by suppliers.